Ray helped Harry move through the house across the street from his mum’s home. It was a modest two story house. It was similar to the Dursley’s home in size, but it wasn’t as richly furnished or as pristinely kept. The walls had smudges around the light switches and up the stairwell where children would place their hands as they ran through the house. Its furniture also showed evidence that children lived in the house. The furniture looked played on and they nearly tripped over an abandoned toy at various locations.

They had finally found the location where they could watch his mum’s house. Ray had her arm around him and was trying to help him every step of the way. He truly didn’t need as much help as she was insisting on giving. He actually seemed to be stronger now. Harry had tried to protest, but she would not listen to him.

“I think this looks like a good window. Can you stand here while I check it out?” She asked him.

“I am feeling better now,” stated Harry as he stood there without leaning on anything.

Ray had ignored him and was now staring through the lacey curtains. “I have a good view of your mum’s house. I am pretty sure we can see the front and back door from here,” she stated. “I’ll get a seat ready for you, and you can start your watch. Are you good to stand there for a bit longer, Harry?”

“Yeah, I am good.” He looked at his watch. “The Hogwarts Express should be getting into Kings Cross by now. I doubt if my mum will be home here for another two hours.”

“Here is a good chair for you,” said Ray. She placed a large stuffed chair by the window. It had a high back and sturdy arms on it. “Here let me help you….”

“I can manage on my own,” huffed Harry. He hated needing help, and he was feeling much better now. He stepped past Ray and sat in the chair. It was a high quality chair from the feel of the cushions and the fabric. It was actually very comfortable.

“I guess you are doing better,” stated a shocked Ray. “Maybe your parents have made up.”

“I don’t think so. I am still weak. I am just a little bit stronger. They may have cooled their hatred, but that is about all. You are right this is a good view.” He sat back to try to hide the outline of his head from people looking in the window. He doubted that anyone would be able to see, since it was dark in the room.

“I should work some more on the time travel projections, but I will need light,” said Ray ruefully. “Someone would see it and decide that the – the – what is their names?”

“Merchants,” said Harry.

“Yeah, the Merchants might be home instead of Switzerland skiing. I guess I will just have to lie down on this very comfortable bed and have a kip.”

Harry laughed at her sardonic attitude. He was going to say something, but a soft click and the light beside the bed coming on broke his train of thought.

“I didn’t do it,” whispered Ray nervously. She hopped off the bed and followed the plug wire to the outlet. “I didn’t realize they had timers in this year. It looks like an effin dinosaur, but it is real.”

Harry noticed that as Ray was standing up her shadows were creeping up the wall. “Ray, get down. Your shadow is moving up the wall.”

Ray fell down on the floor. She looked up at him. “Now isn’t this inconvenient.”

“Did you see how long that light was supposed to be on?”

“Only an hour, this time, but it is scheduled to come on again around 10 and stay on until Midnight.”

“I guess we will need to find another location to view the house from during these times. I can see, but it isn’t completely dark yet. Can you….”

“Check the other rooms to see if they are lit up? I am on it, boss.”

“And Ray….”

“I’ll stay down,” she said cutting him off.

“And stop finishing my sentences,” he blurted out.

The only response he received this time was Ray laughing from the hallway as she crawled out to investigate the other rooms. Harry looked down at his watch. The Hogwarts Express was supposed to have arrived five minutes ago. Factoring in time to get things sorted out and walk to the family car, they should not be arriving before two hours from now. It may even be longer, if they stop and eat somewhere. All he could do now was wait. Even if something were to occur, it would be Ray or Teddy going up against them, not him.

Sitting back in his chair, Harry stared out at his grandparents’ home. He started to wonder what it looked like inside. What did his grandparents do to occupy their time? Did his grandmum knit or do needlepoint. Did his grandfather sit and read, or sleep in front of the telly?

Ray came back about five minutes later.

“There is a light on downstairs in the sitting room and in the kitchen, but that is all right now. The other rooms up here won’t be helpful. There is a tree blocking the view of your mum’s house. We can only hope that they don’t Apparate in under a Disillusionment Charm during these time periods.”

“The way this mission seems to be going that will be what will happen, and then you will be forced to fight them on their terms,” grumbled Harry.

Neither one of them said anything for some time. Harry watched the house and the surrounding area. Nighttime was making the surveillance difficult. Ray had taken out the scrolls of parchment from her Charmed pocket. She had them stretched out on the floor as she rechecked her work.

Harry would occasionally glance over at her as she worked on the extremely long and complicated equation. He remembered reading on her application that she had received the highest scores possible in Arithemancy. She seemed to be almost a genius at numbers and calculations.

Eventually the light clicked off. It was fortunate that it did, because the night was so dark that he couldn’t see anything outside that wasn’t within ten feet of a streetlamp. He sat there waiting for his eyes to get used to the dark. He could hear the rustle of parchment as Ray rolled up her work.

“How are you getting along with that equation?” he asked her.

“I am getting close. It is really complicated and what makes it even worse is I don’t have any calculators that have graphing capability. It is taking me forever to rewrite the equation to make it easier to understand and work with.

“Those stupid wizards didn’t know how to work the equation. They just made several leaps and recorded how far they went for the specified number of turns. They then extrapolated an answer that was actually wrong. Wizards have a habit of thinking in a linear thought process. They have a difficulty understanding things that happen geometrically rather than in a straight linear relationship.”

Harry laughed at her comment. “I will take your word for it. I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Sorry,” she said in the darkness.

“No need to apologize, Ray. I am not that good at Arithmancy, and you are talking about more complicated stuff than that. Where did you learn it all?”

“It is a family tradition. My father is a math Professor in university. My grandfather is a math Professor in another university. At a young age they were teaching me advanced Calculus. At first it was a joke, but when I started solving problems that stump grad students, they saw the possibility of me being a math prodigy.”

“Fascinating, you were some type of super-brain,” said Harry. He meant it as a compliment, but the room was filled with tense silence, so he realized he had insulted her. “I meant that as a compliment, Ray. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

“I am not insulted. Actually, that was what my parents used to refer to me as. They wanted me to be some super mathematician that would receive world renown. They were predicting that I could obtain at least one Noble Prize for Mathematics in my life, this was all before I even turned nine.”

“Nothing like putting pressure on a child,” said Harry sympathetically.

“My father and grandfather would take me to math competitions throughout Britain and Europe. I lost the first one when I was eight, but never lost again. Those competitions were against undergraduate students. My grandfather was a tenured Professor by that time and he used his position to have the University sponsor me, even though I wasn’t a student.

“Over the next two years, I won six different competitions for the University. They were going to admit me to the University when I turned twelve. Their by-laws prevented anyone under the age of twelve attending classes’ full time.”

“I am assuming that your family didn’t like you going to Hogwarts?” asked Harry.

“No, but it was a relief to discover I was magical, not someone who was hallucinating.”

“Hallucinating?”

“I used to see the strangest things growing up; goblins and House Elves moving about London and other stretches of Britain. I would see dragons on occasions and unicorns. I even swore that there was a violently purple triple decker bus driving around England. My parents couldn’t see any of it. They thought I was having hallucinations. It isn’t uncommon for someone with my gift for the abstract to create an alternate universe and see things that are not real.

“The one time that made me realize how different I was, was after I had won a competition. We were driving back through England. We stopped in this quaint little town to get a bite at the local pub. My grandfather asked why there was a black monolith in front of the chapel. The waitress said it was a monument to the dead of the war. I asked her why they would show a mother, father, and a child for such a display. My father thought I had gone around the twist, but the waitress just smiled at me.”

“You were in Godrics Hollow. Weren’t you?” interjected Harry.

“Yes, when we left the pub, I wanted to see the rest of the town. We walked a bit. I saw your family’s house. I was able to see the writing thanking you. That was the first time that I had heard of you, sir.”

“Harry, please.”

“Harry. When the letter came then Professor Sinistra showed up at my door. It all made logical sense to me. I could see these things because I was magical, not because they were figments of my imagination. I had been seeing a shrink for about a year. They had tried psychoanalysis, but it failed. They were going to try to give me meds to stop my hallucinations, when I discovered that I was actually seeing things because I was magical. When I asked Professor Sinistra, she confirmed that those ‘hallucinations’ were real in the magical world.

“My parents still didn’t want me to go. They wanted me to become the famous mathematician, not a hidden witch. We fought about it for almost two weeks. I fortunately won, but they insisted that I attend University upon graduating from Hogwarts.”

“Why didn’t you return to the University?”

“Because, I wanted to be like my hero, you; I wanted to become an Auror. I don’t regret making that decision.”

Harry was a bit taken back by her statement that he was her ‘hero’. He had never wanted to be a hero. “How is your relationship with your family?”

“Strained, stressed, but mostly nonexistent,” she said quietly. “They pester me so much about returning to University that I don’t even want to see them.”

Harry thought about what she had just said. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed as if she hadn’t seen her family for a long time. In some ways he can understand being seperated from your family. He kept in touch with Dudley, but he hasn’t seen his Uncle Vernon since the summer after defeating Voldemort. Yet, he couldn’t imagine life now without talking to the Weasley’s at least once a week.

Even with the darkness in the room, he could tell that Ray was embarrassed by what she just revealed to him. It was more than she probably ever revealed to anyone else, including her own family. He was unsure what to think about this. Her calling him her hero was still unnerving him. He was starting to wonder how deep her feelings were for him. He hoped that they were only platonic.

“I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” said Ray in the dark room.

“When you said I was your hero…?”

“I found a biography of you in Flourish and Blotts when I went to get my textbooks. It had your picture on the front cover. I bought it because I wanted to know why you were called the ‘boy that lived’. I read it before the start of the school year. I was fascinated by this exciting world that I was entering. All the danger and adventure that was open to me. Even though I had traveled around most of Europe by that time, I still spent most of my life in libraries, classrooms, and studies. A world of unicorns, werewolves, goblins, dragons, and magic took me away from all the tedium of studying and researching.”

“So you became and Auror only to find out that eighty percent of the time you are studying and researching,” chuckled Harry.

“Yes, that may be true, but there is still that twenty percent of action and excitement. I started studying martial arts, when I was six. I was always full of energy. My parents allowed me to take it in hopes of burning off my abundant energy.”

“Did it work?”

“Until I smashed Bobby Thorton’s nose in grammar school because he called me a know-it-all.”

Harry and Ray laughed at her comment. He could see her punching a little boy in the face. She does it regularly to grown men now that she is an adult. He went to say something, but the car pulling to a stop in front of his mum’s house caught his attention. He watched as his grandparents got out of the car followed by his mum. She had small bag with her. They locked the car and entered the house unmolested. He watched as lights blinked on in the house. It appeared that everything was normal in the Evan’s house.

“My mum’s home,” he whispered to Ray.

A noise was heard downstairs. It sounded like a door closing.

“Do you think that is Teddy?” asked Ray.

“I hope it is,” whispered Harry.

They listened as the person walked through the house. Ray positioned herself by the door. Harry waited in the chair, as he would be useless in a fight. The footsteps moved towards them down the hall. They suddenly stopped by the doorway to the room.

“There you are,” said Teddy, as he took off the Invisibility Cloak.

“How was the trip?” asked Harry.

Teddy looked around the dimly lit room, and walked towards the bed. He flopped himself down on it with a loud sigh.

“Long and boring,” he groaned. “Your parents didn’t even get into a fight.”

“How did they act towards each other?” Harry questioned Teddy.

“Different. They were a little on edge, but very reserved. It was always obvious if they were going to get along or fight by your mum’s reaction. Today, she didn’t seem to react to him. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” said Harry. “Ray has been taking good care of me. So far no activity outside.”

“Good,” sighed Teddy. “I am exhausted flying along with the car all the way here. When we get back, I am going to ask why there must be only one stop for the Hogwarts Express. It doesn’t make any sense why someone must ride to London, only to turn around and drive a hundred miles back the direction from whence you came.”

“Think about the people who live in Scotland,” said Harry. “They pass by the castle on the way to the Hogwarts Express.”

“Bloody mental that is,” said Teddy quietly, as he drifted off to sleep.

Ray picked up the Invisibility Cloak and draped it over Harry. “I am going for a kip,” she said quietly.

Harry leaned his head against the chair’s high back. He knew that no one could see him now. He just hoped there won’t be an attack this night. He wanted Ray and Teddy to get a good night’s sleep. He was guessing that it would be tomorrow night when the NDE’s attack his mum.

He looked out the window and watched as the light came on in his mum’s bedroom. He was glad she used heavy curtains, because no one needed to know what she was doing and where exactly she was in the room. He scanned the area around the house for anyone watching her.

Shortly after midnight the light went out in his mum’s room. The entire house was now dark. The only light on the entire block was coming from the street lamps spaced at every other house. Harry sat there listening to Teddy sleep as he stared out into the night. Each hour seemed to last longer and longer, until the sun finally rose again.

“Damn, I am starved,” moaned Teddy from the bed.

“Get something to eat,” said Harry from under the Cloak. Teddy sat up and looked around at the disembodied voice. “You can take the next watch, I need some rest.”

“What do we have?” asked Teddy.

“There is a basket with four days of food down on the kitchen table,” stated Ray. She was standing in the doorway glaring at Harry. “You should have woken us during the night. You are still weak.”

“I was able to make it through the night.” Harry pulled the Cloak off him and started to stand up.

Ray rushed to his side and grabbed his arm to support him. “What would you have done if they showed up?”

“I was going to throw that potted plant at Teddy,” said Harry pointing to a potted african violet.

“You would have done that,” said Teddy with hurt in his voice.

“I was tempted to hit you with it to stop your snoring.”

“I don’t snore,” protested Teddy. The other two laughed at him. “Fine, pick on me. I am going to something to eat. Then I suppose I will be forced to listen to you snore all day.”

“I am going to sleep in another room,” said Harry.

“Not until you get something to eat and some of that tea, Harry,” ordered Ray. “You are weak.”

“First I need to go to the loo,” said Harry, as he started walking in that direction.

An hour later, Teddy was watching the Evans home, and Harry had eaten and was feeling rather exhausted. Ray had almost spoon fed him, but he put a stop to that silliness. He stood up to walk to another bedroom to kip. “Happy Christmas,” he told the other two.

Ray smiled and returned the greeting. Teddy just sat there and grumbled under his breath.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Harry woke up in the strange bed to steel grey light filtering through the curtains. He had just slept Christmas day away. He struggled to stand up beside the bed. After getting his balance he went to the nearest loo.

He had checked his watch and realized he had only slept eight hours. The days are so short this time of year. He entered the bedroom where Ray was sitting and staring out the window. Teddy was relaxing on the bed.

“Harry, you are up,” exclaimed Ray.

Teddy opened one eye and waved to him before dozing off again.

“I take it everything has been quiet,” he asked them.

“Yes, just a boring day watching other people enjoying their Christmas,” groaned Teddy.

Harry stared at his godson and then at Ray. She just shrugged her shoulders in response. Harry had noticed that Teddy seemed to be in a foul mood earlier today. Whatever was bothering him hasn’t been resolved.

“It sure feels like it,” said Teddy without opening his eyes. “It has been six months since I last saw Vic. Six months is a long long time for us,” he said dramatically thowing his arm over his eyes.

“I understand. Even though we should be able to make it back so we miss maybe a few minutes, we still have been living without our families in this time. I miss Ginny too.”

Teddy snorted and smiled. “You have been married for years.”

“We still probably shag as much as you and Victorie.”

Teddy pulled his arm off his face and glared at Harry. “I didn’t need to know that. Damn that is disgusting, do you plan to tell James, Al, and Lily that when you get back?”

“Not until they are lying around whining about not having sex with their spouse,” he laughed at Teddy.

“Sod off, Potter,” snapped Teddy as he fell back on the bed and pulled a pillow over his head.

The timed light came on in the room. Harry dropped to the floor to avoid casting shadows. He looked up and saw Ray staring at him.

“I am fine. Watch outside and get the Cloak on.”

Ray pulled the Cloak, which was lying beside the chair, over her. Harry started crawling over to her. Teddy seemed to be happy to lie on the bed and not move.

“I can take over now,” he told Ray.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, there isn’t anything else I can do,” he said to her. He heard the rustling of the Cloak and he saw her legs appear in front of the chair legs. He started pulling him up to take her place.

“Hold what is that?” whispered Ray.

Harry pushed harder on the arm of the chair to stand up under the cloak. When he finally gained full height, he could see over Ray’s shoulder. There was a car in front of the house. It had parked and the people inside were moving around rather violently because the car was rocking.

The front door of the Evan’s house opened and his grandmother stepped out on the front porch. At the same time, the people in the car got out. It was unmistakably Petunia and Vernon. She was a gangly horse-faced girl, and he was smaller version of his older self. Unfortunately, he still looked like a walrus in a suit as he waddled to the porch.

“I think Teddy isn’t the only one to have his Christmas ruined,” said Harry. The same time that his grandmother went out to great her other daughter and boyfriend, the light came on in Lily’s room.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Lily stood and stared out through the gap in the front door curtains. She heard the car pull up. She almost wished it were the people wanting to kill her rather than her unpleasant sister and her obnoxious boyfriend. It would figure that Petunia would fall in love with an encyclopedia salesman.

“Lily, what are you looking at?” asked her mum.

“The scourge of happiness,” hissed Lily. She could hear her father chuckle behind his paper. He had heard the car pull up and decided it was good time to get caught up with British politics.

“You listen here young lady, that is your sister and this is Christmas. Don’t you roll your eyes at me. I want us to have a pleasant family dinner for Christmas. I realize that Petunia and Vernon can get on your nerves, but she is family and he may be very soon.”

Her mum opened the front door and stepped out into the cold evening. Lily stared at the door as it closed. She didn’t need this right now. Not with everything that has happened in her life. Turning she went up the stairs two at a time. She went into her bedroom and flopped on the bed. She needed time to think and relax.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care for and possibly love her sister. She just couldn’t sit in the same room with her for longer than ten minutes without wanting to break the Wizarding Secrecy Laws. Her sister had a way of grating on her nerves like no else but Potter.

Lily stopped thinking about how much her sister irratates her and realized that Potter has the same affect. It couldn’t be that she actually cares for Potter that way. After he accused her of having an affair with Professor James, she never wanted to speak to him again.

If only Potter could be more of a gentleman, like her father. He was always so outrageous and wanting the center of attention. Didn’t he realize how much she hated that? If he would act a little different, then she might….

Lily stood up and went to her window and opened it. She needed air. What she just thought was absolutely ridiculous. There could never be anything between her and that arrogant rich kid, Potter.

“Lily dear, please come down for dinner,” shouted her mum from down the stairs.

Lily pulled her head back inside and closed the window. She knew she couldn’t avoid going downstairs. It would create more trouble than she would experience by being around that great mound of a man. What Petunia saw in him, she had no idea?

Grabbing Petunia’s present, Lily opened her bedroom door to greet her sister. She found everyone in the sitting room. Vernon was talking to her father about his exploits at work. She smiled at her father’s expression. She had seen it before on other students faces in Professor Binns class. Her father was staring blankly at Vernon while he blustered on about the dangers of selling encyclopedias door to door. He was talking animatedly about being attacked by a vicious dog.

“What type of dog was it?” asked Lily.

Vernon coughed and stared at her. It seemed she had caught him by surprise. “It doesn’t really matter does it? I was attacked by this creature with huge fangs.”

“Yes, Lily it doesn’t matter,” interjected Petunia.

“I guess not,” said Lily to her sister. “Here is your present.” She handed Petunia the wrapped gift. Her sister eyed it suspiciously before taking it from her.

Everyone watched as Petunia carefully unwrapped her present. It was a heavy duty apron for cleaning. Their mum had said that Petunia had asked for one. She lifted it out of the box and seemed to stare at it for a second before stuffing it back in the box.

“It will do, thank you,” Petunia said to Lily curtly.

“I think dinner is ready,” said their mum. She could tell that Lily was hurt by Petunia’s action.

As everyone was walking towards the table, Vernon made Lily regret coming downstairs even more. “How are you doing in that special boarding school that Petunia couldn’t get into?” the great oaf asked.

It had been the worst dinner that Lily could remember. Vernon spoke the entire time about his work. He kept bothering her father about getting a job at Grunnings on the sales staff. Finally, just before pudding, her father said that he would see about it.

“You won’t regret it father,” said Petunia proudly. “Vernon set the record for the most sets of encyclopedias sold in a year.”

“Oh, that is an accomplishment,” said Lily’s mum.

“I still have a week to go,” said Vernon proudly. “I set the record by five sets. The old record was 310 sets. I sold 315. When I got close to the record, I went back to a couple of batty old birds and sold them a set for each of their grandchildren.” Vernon crowed with pride at his selling style.

Lily stopped her spoon halfway to her mouth at what Vernon had said. She looked over to her father and saw him staring at Vernon with disgust. The man had taken advantage of several old women and possibly left them broke so he could break a record. Merlin, she hopes Petunia doesn’t marry that git.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Harry was sitting covered with the Invisibility Cloak watching his mum’s home. The front door opened and Vernon and Petunia walked out to the car. He could only see his grandmum waving goodbye to them.

“Well it looks as if Christmas is over at my mum’s house,” said Harry.

Teddy was sitting crossed legged on the floor playing solitaire using the glow from the night light in the hallway. Ray had relinquished her watch and went to sleep in the other bedroom. She had been a sleep for about an hour.

“Ray, finished the calculation for the Time Turners,” stated Teddy.

“She did. That is great,” replied Harry.

“As soon as we capture these gits, I want to go back to our time period,” said Teddy harshly.

“We still need to make the Potion,” stated Harry. “We still are stuck on that.”

“I know, but we will get it soon.”

“I promised Professor Dumbledore that I would complete the year….”

“You promised him, but I didn’t. I can take one of the Time Turners and return with the NDE’s, while you finish the year teaching. I want to get back. I miss Vic, Harry. I miss her so much it hurts. Ray could calculate the exact amount of turns to return me to the exact time that we left. The two of you can return after the school year. We will all return at the same time, but I will be leaving months earlier.”

Harry sat there and thought about his statement. It seemed strange to think he could leave months ahead of him and arrive at the same exact time in the future. Teddy had been steadily becoming agitated; a sign that the mission was wearing on him.

“What about your father?” asked Harry.

“I wanted to meet him, and I did. I also had a chance to see my mum in her youth. My dad actually is as you always described him. I have met him and got to know him, but I can’t do anything to change his future because it might change our futures. I have come to appreciate one thing, and that is how delicate time is. You almost died because your parents had a row over you in the present day.”

“I didn’t almost die,” responded Harry.

“You didn’t see yourself when we found you. You were almost dead. I don’t want to take any chances with our future. It may not be perfect, but it’s a damn sight better than this reality. I never remember the fights in the halls that happen here on a regular basis. It isn’t always your dad that starts them. Everyone seems so eager to hex the other. I like our future. It would be best if I can return; the sooner the better.”

Harry stopped talking and stared out the window at the empty street. Teddy had a valid point the longer any of them from the future stayed the greater the chance that the future will be changed. Could Voldemort still be in power when they return, or a fate just as unpleasant? It would be good to get rid of the NDEs and sending them to the future would be the best way possible.

“If we have the opportunity, you can go back to the future with the NDEs,” he said to Teddy.

“Are you disappointed with me that I don’t want to spend more time with my father?”

“No, I am not.”

“Good, because I have always had you there as my father figure.”

“Thank you.” Harry was glad he was covered by the Cloak, because a few tears ran down his face. Teddy said that sincerely he could tell that it wasn’t contrived.

Time moved slowly as there was nothing happening outside. The only movement for hours was a solitary cat weaving its way along the street using the hedges to hide. He listened as Teddy would shuffle the deck of cards several times between hands of solitaire. As the minutes turned into hours, Harry became increasingly tired.

Teddy had just finished his fiftieth hand when Teddy again spoke to Harry. He was getting tired and went to get Ray up. Harry glanced down at his watch as Ray came into the room. It was a little after three in the morning. The faint sounds of Apparation made him snap his head up and stare at the street. There were two wizards in hooded robes and wands out walking towards his mum’s house.

“Ray…,” he started to tell her, but the sound of her Apparation made him realize that she knew what to do.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Ray saw the two wizards walking towards the front door of the house. She didn’t wait for Harry to tell her what to do. It was obvious.

She spun on the spot and reappeared behind the two wizards. The cold night air didn’t even register with her. She was concentrating too much on the wizards in front of her.

They had heard her Apparating right behind them. The one to the right started to point his wand over his left shoulder. Ray shoved him hard in the back, and grabbed the wizard on the left and pulled him towards the one on the right. The first wizard had already cast the silent Petrificus Totalus. The second wizard stiffened and fell like a tree on top of the other wizard.

It only took a second for Ray to Stun the first wizard who was trying to push the petrified wizard off him. She stood back and smiled at them. This was too easy, but she wasn’t going to complain to anyone about it.

The two wizards would be a liability to Apparate while Petrified. Taking a Portkey would also have risks, but she could deal with those. She drew the door to her Auror locker where they kept their supplies to go on a mission. She stuck her wand into the magical compartment as it appeared. She prodded around until she found a piece of rope. She held onto the rope and draped it across the two men and felt a familiar tug behind her navel.

The world started spinning, and then thump they had landed on the hard, cold, dirty floor of an abandoned house.

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

Harry watched as Ray incapacitated the wizards in just two seconds. A second later she had disappeared with the two suspects. He was getting ready to use the Portkey designated for him and Teddy. They will need to help Ray, if the curses holding them in place should fail.

Harry grabbed a portkey and held it out for Teddy to grab. His attention was averted again. There were three wizards walking up to the front porch steps with their wands drawn.

“Are they with the order?” whispered Teddy beside him.

“No I don’t think so.”

Teddy pulled his wand and started to Apparate, but Harry grabbed his arm.